Pooling is no longer an option, it is a necessity

The hulo humanitarian cooperative reacts to the sudden suspension of US humanitarian funding for foreign countries

© Nikola Krtolica – Hulo team at Liège airport for an EU humanitarian airlift flight, observing cargo bound for Afghanistan.

In March 2024, we reported in Défis Humanitaires on the recognition received by hulo (HUmanitarian LOgistics) with the 2023 InnovAid humanitarian innovation prize awarded at the European Humanitarian Forum (EHF) on 18 and 19 March 2024, and the publication of its 2024 impact report. This is an opportunity to take stock of the issues addressed by this humanitarian cooperative, which was created in June 2021 in the wake of the RLH (Humanitarian Logistics Network) and now brings together 16 humanitarian organisations.

However, with US President Donald Trump’s decision on 20 January to freeze US funding for humanitarian and development aid abroad for at least 90 days (in particular through the USAID/BHA agencies), there has never been a greater need to accelerate economies of scale in the humanitarian system, whose very survival is at stake in this episode. It’s time to analyse the consequences and challenges of this crucial moment – when logistics are at the heart of the humanitarian engine threatened with running out of fuel – again with Jean-Baptiste Lamarche, Managing Director of hulo :

DH: Hello Jean-Baptiste. First of all, as the head of a humanitarian organisation, what is your reaction, and that of hulo more broadly, to the decision taken by the US President on 20 January?

For hulo, with its 16 member organisations, including Bioport and Atlas Logistique in particular, as for all humanitarian actors, this decision is staggering. What we thought was an impossible scenario, the humanitarian sector’s worst nightmare, is happening before our very eyes. The consequences of such a decision are disastrous: funding collapses overnight, cash flow is unable to absorb a shock of this magnitude, projects are abruptly halted, leaving entire teams without work and, above all, vulnerable populations without the support they depend on. This is an extremely hard blow for the entire sector and for communities around the world.

DH: What humanitarian impacts do you think we need to be prepared for, particularly in terms of global food security, epidemic risks, population movements and migration? Is there not also a risk of pressure being put on humanitarian actors who are still in a position to respond to needs, as well as on non-American donors, whose attitude and policies we do not know?

The direct impact on populations is likely to be immense and, more generally, we risk a global imbalance and multidimensional aberrations.

In terms of food security, the sudden reduction in funding could exacerbate precariousness in already fragile regions, accelerating nutritional crises and exposing millions of people to hunger.

In terms of health, the suspension of certain programmes could lead to a resurgence of epidemics, particularly in areas where medical infrastructures are heavily dependent on international aid. Diseases that can be prevented by vaccination or basic treatment could resurface, jeopardising years of progress in public health.

As for population migration and displacement, the domino effect is obvious: the deterioration in living conditions in certain areas will force thousands, if not millions, of people to seek refuge elsewhere, heightening tensions at borders and in host countries.

Finally, it is feared that the humanitarian actors who are still operational will be put under extreme pressure. With fewer people on the ground, demand will explode, making coordination and resource allocation even more complex.

The response of non-American donors will be decisive: will they compensate for this vacuum or, on the contrary, revise their commitments downwards for fear of a political chain reaction? This uncertainty adds further instability to a sector that is already under strain.

hulo deputy country coordinator during a helicopter operation with the Airbus Foundation in Burkina Faso.

DH: You are the head of a humanitarian organisation. The leaders of humanitarian organisations will have to, and are already having to, make difficult and painful decisions as a result of the US administration’s decision. What is your view and analysis of this aspect of managing the current crisis?

Faced with this crisis, we are being forced to take some extremely difficult decisions, which run counter to our commitments and our mission. The reduction or abrupt cessation of certain programmes is a painful reality, with direct consequences for the populations we support and the teams working in the field.

The main challenge is to prioritise and cushion the impact as much as possible. This means identifying the most critical programmes, trying to optimise certain funding, looking for new partners and strengthening coordination and pooling with other humanitarian actors.

Internally, we also have to manage the human impact within our own organisations. Our teams are in shock, faced with major uncertainty. The need to be transparent and to offer prospects, however limited, is essential to maintain the confidence and commitment of those who remain mobilised.

Finally, this crisis is forcing us to rethink our funding models and organisational structures, where there is still plenty of scope for optimisation in the sector.

DH: Would you say that this decision by the US administration is an absolute ‘first’, or is there a parallel with certain previous situations, such as during the COVID 19 pandemic?

It’s not an absolute ‘first’ in terms of a crisis, but it’s a breakthrough on an unprecedented scale. Parallels can be drawn with previous crises, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, which had already revealed the fragility of humanitarian funding and dependence on certain donors. During that period, many programmes were suspended or redirected to health emergencies, leaving other crises underfunded.

What makes this situation different is that it is taking place at a time when humanitarian crises are already on the increase, and needs are exploding. Unlike the COVID period, when emergency funding was mobilised, we are now facing a net collapse in financial support with no immediate prospect of compensation. This is forcing the humanitarian sector to urgently rethink the way it operates and its sources of funding.

Pooling resources appears to be one of the most pragmatic and effective solutions to this crisis. In a context where funding is becoming brutally scarce, breaking down silos, avoiding unnecessary duplication and increasing solidarity between humanitarian actors is becoming a necessity in order to optimise the impact of remaining resources.

By pooling resources – whether in terms of logistics, infrastructure, purchasing, information systems or even specialised human resources – organisations can reduce their operational costs while maintaining a reasonable level of intervention. This allows every available euro to be allocated where it is really needed, rather than being diluted by parallel structures or administrative inefficiencies. Bioport and Atlas, members of hulo, are two pooling players who have been providing international and local logistics services for over 30 years, and are fully mobilised to bring their solutions to humanitarian organisations as part of the management of this crisis.

In addition, this approach strengthens the collective resilience of the sector. Rather than competing for dwindling funding, NGOs and humanitarian actors need to work even more closely together, pooling certain support functions and concentrating on their specific added value. The hulo cooperative has shown that humanitarian logistics and supply chains create more value and impact through cooperation than through individual management.

In this crisis context, this should even encourage the sector’s leaders to initiate a structural transformation towards greater collaboration between their structures in order to adapt to difficult contexts such as these.

DH: What role can and should a cooperative like hulo play in this process? What directions for innovation and what levers for pooling do you want to push and develop ‘as a matter of urgency’? What practical tools can be used to ensure that, as you say, ‘pooling creates value’ even more, and to enable the continuation of activities that are vital to the millions of people around the world who depend on humanitarian aid?

Hulo and its members, particularly Bioport and Atlas, are positioning themselves as catalysts for solutions to this crisis, by accelerating and extending the pooling of resources and capacities among humanitarian organisations. The humanitarian economic equation, dependent on mainly public funding, requires rigorous management and maximum optimisation to ensure the best use of available resources. Pooling is therefore a solution that can be implemented immediately with tangible results. Hulo has developed cooperative processes and tools to structure and facilitate pooling between humanitarian actors, including pooled purchasing, digital solutions and initiatives shared between organisations. These tools are ready to be deployed on a large scale to maximise humanitarian impact while making the sector more efficient, more resilient and better prepared for future crises. Pooling is no longer an option, it’s a necessity.

Hulo country coordinator with Solidarités International enriched flour ordered via a Joint Purchasing Initiative (JPI) in Burkina Faso.

DH: In these extremely uncertain times, some humanitarian organisations may be tempted to turn in on themselves and look for solutions internally. Would you say that this is the risk that humanitarian organisations must avoid, and that openness is more essential than ever?

Withdrawal is both instinctive in a precarious situation and undoubtedly the greatest risk for humanitarian organisations in this period of crisis. Faced with the sudden halt in funding and the uncertainties hanging over the sector, the temptation to favour internal solutions may seem natural. However, this approach runs the risk of limiting the potential for solutions, and even exacerbating the difficulties by fragmenting resources even further and reducing the sector’s collective effectiveness. More than ever, openness and cooperation between players are essential to maintain aid to vulnerable populations. Pooling resources, sharing expertise and coordinating actions not only makes it possible to achieve economies of scale, but also guarantees greater responsiveness to urgent needs. Hulo defends this vision by proposing tools and processes that facilitate pooling, so that NGOs can overcome this crisis together, rather than suffering its consequences alone. It is by joining forces that the humanitarian sector will be able to rise to the challenges of today.

DH: Can you think of a concrete example, in a specific field, of a strengthened pooling response, in collaboration with one or more of your partners, that was able to provide at least a partial response to the funding shortfall caused by the US decision?

It is still too early to cite a concrete example of pooling set up in direct response to the suspension of US funding, as the decision was only taken a month ago. At this stage, NGOs are still in an evaluation phase: they are trying to understand precisely which funding will be maintained, which will be definitively lost and what will happen after the 90-day deadline announced by the US administration. Not all organisations have been affected in the same way, with some taking the full brunt while others are, for the time being, less directly affected. What they all have in common, however, is the need to adapt and adjust their plans to ensure the continuity of aid. In this context of uncertainty, the pooling of resources and cooperation between players appear to be strategic levers for limiting the impact of this crisis and making humanitarian operations as secure as possible. Hulo is working to identify these evolving needs with organisations on the ground to see how pooling can meet their requirements.

DH: Thank you very much Jean-Baptiste. To conclude, do you have a message to pass on to your partners, NGOs and others, and to the readers of Défis Humanitaires?

At this time of extreme uncertainty, our message is simple: now more than ever is the time for cooperation and pooling. Faced with the brutality of the new American administration’s decision and its repercussions, it is essential that the humanitarian sector does not fragment but, on the contrary, strengthens its synergies. Each organisation is now seeking to adapt its plans, but it is together that we will be able to find viable and sustainable solutions to continue to support the populations that depend on humanitarian aid.

We call on our partners, NGOs and other players in the sector, to commit to this collective dynamic. Pooling is not just an emergency response, it is a strategic lever that can transform our modes of action in the long term and make our sector more resilient. Hulo and its members, including Bioport and Atlas in particular, are ready to support this movement, by providing practical tools and facilitating essential cooperation. In the face of this crisis, it is through collective intelligence and solidarity that we will preserve our ability to act.

Pierre Brunet

Writer and humanitarian

Pierre Brunet is a novelist and a member of the Board of Directors of the NGO SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL. He became involved in humanitarian work in Rwanda in 1994, then in Bosnia in 1995, and has since returned to the field (Afghanistan in 2003, the Calais Jungle in 2016, migrant camps in Greece and Macedonia in 2016, Iraq and north-eastern Syria in 2019, Ukraine in 2023). Pierre Brunet’s novels are published by Calmann-Lévy: ‘Barnum’ in 2006, ‘JAB’ in 2008, ‘Fenicia’ in 2014 and ‘Le triangle d’incertitude’ in 2017. A former journalist, Pierre Brunet regularly publishes analytical articles, opinion pieces and columns.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarche

Jean-Baptiste Lamarche is CEO and co-founder of Hulo, the first humanitarian cooperative to connect players and innovate in the pooling and optimisation of supply chain resources. He holds an International Executive MBA from HEC Paris and has devoted most of his career to humanitarian logistics. Before founding hulo, Jean-Baptiste held management positions with a number of international NGOs, including Logistics and Information Systems Director for Action Contre la Faim. A committed leader and collaborator, Jean-Baptiste is passionate about innovation as a means of increasing the impact of humanitarian aid.

I invite you to read these interviews and articles published in the edition :

Armenia, a tale of solidarity through books

An editorial by Alain Boinet

Behind the students, from left to right, Sylvain Tesson, Alain Boinet, Vincent Montagne and Renaud Lefebvre, at the SPFA Francophone Centre in Yerevan.

The 4 pallets of books from France arrived safely in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on Monday 22 January 2025. They contain 2,700 books of contemporary French-language literature for students, an initiative of Défis Humanitaires and its partners (1) with the support of the French Embassy.

This Monday, at the SPFA francophone centre in Yerevan, we are here with Sylvain Tesson, the patron of this initiative, Vincent Montagne, president of the Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) and its director, Renaud Lefebvre, who have made it possible to collect 4000 new books free of charge from 12 publishing houses (2) on the basis of a list drawn up by level of age from 6 to 18.

Habet, Anna, Liana, Garéguine, Nelli, the teachers are here with some of the 60 students, many of them young girls like Meri, who was expelled from Artsakh with her family, and who sings us a song from her country. They are all learning French and speak it well.

We began the day by meeting representatives of two publishing houses, Antares and Newmag, as well as the Deputy Minister for Culture, Education and Sport, Daniel Danielyan, together with Xavier Richard from the embassy and David Tursz (Institut français). Partnership projects were outlined with Vincent Montagne and Renaud Lefebvre from the SNE, including the idea of Armenia taking part in the Paris Book Festival.

Together with the French ambassador, Olivier Decottignies, our delegation paid their respects at the memorial to the genocide perpetrated by the Young Turk government in 1915 and 1916, during which 1.5 million Armenians perished. Vincent Montagne laid a wreath on behalf of the SNE, and we placed white carnations in front of the flame which, day and night, serves as a reminder of their martyrdom.

We then went to Yerablur cemetery, on the heights of Yerevan, where soldiers and volunteers, including students, killed during Azerbaijan’s 44-day war against Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, are buried. Flags fly everywhere, as they do on Maïdan Square in Kiev in Ukraine, and on each grave we can see the face of each of the victims, most of them young people aged 18 to 20.

It was a day full of emotion, history and solidarity.

The next day, on our way to Goris, we stopped at the Vedi dam. This huge reservoir, the largest built since the Soviet period, was built in partnership with the Republic of Armenia thanks to a loan and expertise from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and a grant from the European Union.

VEDI reservoir, Mount Ararat in the distance. Photo Antoine Agoudjian

Olivier Decottignies is very proud of this project presented to us by Audrey from AFD. The Vedi reservoir will irrigate 3,000 hectares of farmland in the Ararat and Armavir plains, making the country and its people more self-sufficient and food sovereign. In front of us, immaculate Mount Ararat rises from the plain, splendid and snow-capped, at 5,165 metres.

The mountain road in this region of the Southern Caucasus is a long one, leading over snowy passes to the sub-prefecture of Goris, the last large town before the Azeri military positions.

We are warmly welcomed by Carmen, director of the SPFA French-speaking centre, which caters for 120 French-speaking pupils throughout the year. A group of women from Artsakh are waiting for us, bearing witness to the suffering of exile and hope. Here, they use sewing machines to make pretty handicrafts with floral motifs, enabling them to get together and provide for their families. Listening to them, I realise just how battered, courageous and enterprising these women are.

It’s also a good time to meet the French pupils and open a parcel we’ve brought along containing books donated by publishers at the request of Vincent Montagne (SNE), with the support of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, which is heavily involved in this province of Syunik. Among these books, there is ‘Céleste ma planète’ by Thimothée Fombelle, ‘Le Journal d’Aura’ by Marie Deplechin and ‘La panthères des neiges’ by Sylvain Tesson, who talks to these young girls who are both sad and happy.

I came here to Goris a year ago, and that’s when the Humanitarian Challenges project was born – to come back with these books. Although the classic authors are well known, contemporary authors were absent from the library. This is now the case in Goris, as it will soon be in the 76 establishments and libraries selected throughout Armenia’s 11 provinces.

At dawn, while it was still dark, we set off with Sylvain Tesson, photographer Antoine Agoudjian and Alix Montagne for Kornidzor, where we met up with Rasmik, a farmer looking after his 6 cows. On the terrace, as day breaks and the cold penetrates us, he points out an Azeri military position 200 metres away! The front line is in front of his house, where his 5 sons live with their wives and children. The village is home to displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsak. Rasmik has decided to stay on his farm. To stay is to resist. His whole life is there, so why run away? A lesson in courageous humanity rooted in a harsh and rugged life.

Ramzik with Sylvain Tesson 200 metres from the Azerbaijan positions

On the way back, we stopped off in the village of Verischen, with its 2,200 inhabitants, including 35 families displaced from Artsakh, a total of 120 people. We visit a displaced family for whom a house has been rehabilitated by the Fonds Arménien de France with David and Chadounts, its local manager. At the town hall, we meet Artak, the mayor. One of his main problems is water, both for drinking and for farming. In 2021, the Azeris took control of the Black Lake upstream, as well as over 1,500 hectares of land. There are 17 water catchments, many of which need to be rehabilitated. This is a project to which Défis Humanitaires can contribute in addition to its books. When asked about the danger, Artak replies calmly, ‘We’re used to the threat. We are worried, but we don’t cry’. Living with them is their raison d’être.

We set off again for Yerevan, reflecting on what we have seen and understood on these roads of solidarity. As Jean-François Deniau said, ‘There is no hope in the silence of others’. We must break the silence, the abandonment, the indifference.

In humanitarian terms, Armenia can be described as an almost forgotten crisis. In September 2023, it hosted more than 100,000 displaced persons driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, i.e. 3% of the Armenian population, yet it largely escaped the attention of the media and many European countries. Armenia has powerful hostile neighbours, including Azerbaijan, which threatens it and has massive military superiority. Finally, the country is situated on the new geopolitical axis that runs from Ukraine through Moldavia and Georgia to Armenia. It is now on the front line of the new East-West confrontation.

Lastly, the very existence of ethnic and/or national minorities is threatened throughout the world, and this is the case for Armenia and the Armenians, who are a part of humanity with the right to live free and independent lives.

Défis Humanitaires will continue its action, for which the support of your donation will be invaluable.

Thank you for your support.

Alain Boinet.

To read Sylvain Tesson’s report in Le Figaro Magazine, click here.

(1) We would like to thank Sylvain Tesson, writer and patron of this operation, Vincent Montagne, President of the Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) and its Director, Renaud Lefebvre, along with the entire SNE team, Antoine Agoudjian, photographer, Alix Montagne, Olivier Decottignies, French Ambassador to Armenia, as well as Xavier Richard and Dominique Vaysse. We would also like to thank the SPFA French-speaking centres, which welcome 350 students in their nine centres, with Janik Manissian, Hélène Ohandjanian, Habetnak Khachatryan, Anna Harutyuryan, Carmen Apunts and their teams. Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Défis Humanitaires committee of experts and its donors.

(2) List of publishing houses that we would like to thank for donating 2700 selected books: Albin Michel, Dargaud, Edition des Equateurs, Flammarion, Fleurus, Gallimard, Glénat, Hachette, La Martinière, L’Ecole des Loisirs, Seuil Jeunesse, Editions Paralèlles.

Alain Boinet is President of the association Défis Humanitaires, which publishes the online magazine www.defishumanitaires.com. He is the founder of the humanitarian association Solidarités International, of which he was Managing Director for 35 years. He is also a member of the Groupe de Concertation Humanitaire at the Centre de Crise et de Soutien of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and of the Board of Directors of Solidarités International, the Partenariat Français pour l’Eau (PFE), the Véolia Foundation and the Think Tank (re)sources. He continues to travel to the field (Northeast Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh and Armenia) and to speak out in the media.

I invite you to read these interviews and articles published in the edition :

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